September often feels like a turning point in the year. Summer has ended, the days are noticeably shorter and the air cooler. Across the city young children get their first taste of school while older ones move to new schools. The city initially fills up with runners for a weekend for the Great North Run and soon sees visiting athletes replaced by students returning for the new term at the two universities.
More recently there has been a new addition to the city’s September rituals – announcements about the Movement Strategy.
In September 2024 the council announced the draft strategy and a consultation plan that was to be agreed by the Cabinet at a meeting on 16th September 2024.
Following the consultation, on which a report was released in early 2025, the council announced that the Cabinet would be asked to approve the strategy in summer of that year.
Summer passed without any news, but September 2025 rolled around once again bringing an important update – the Cabinet agreed to formally adopt the Movement Strategy Framework.
Not a lot was heard for the next few months until a council meeting in the spring of 2026. At a meeting of the full Council in March 2026 a motion about improving bus services in the city was passed that resolved to “Ask Cabinet to publish the Delivery or Implementation Plan for the Movement Strategy as soon as possible, and in the interim to publish updates monthly at a minimum.”
Since then, a Quick Guide was released but there hasn’t been any sign of monthly updates or a published delivery strategy.
Over the past year a lot has changed, not least control and makeup of the council following the all up elections of May 2026. There is now a new party leading the council and a new Cabinet.
Now we are back in September, after another year has passed. Will the modern tradition of September Movement Strategy announcements be kept alive this year? There’s a couple of weeks left to let all the people who took time to respond to the consultation, and the many more who want to move about the city safely and easily, know what’s happening next.
Once it is announced we can work with the council, holding them to account to deliver the agreed strategy.
We hope it will be something that sets the council on course to creating a city with a transport network that is sustainable, inclusive, and efficient, supporting the health and well-being of all residents and visitors.